Conversations
by friendofkara
Summary: James made an interesting comment. "It's never going to come down to just a battle of strength or smarts or even wills with you. Ultimately it is going to be a battle of values, your values versus your enemies.'" Slight value added AU. I don't own the characters.
1. First Meeting

Cat Grant took a couple of deep breaths as she felt her car settle back onto the ground. She opened the door and began to get out.

Kara took a deep breath as the car door opened. She'd asked James for suggestions to help her figure out how she should do this, and she wasn't one hundred percent sure even now about whether she would take his advice. She took a deep breath and spoke.

As Cat opened the door, she heard a voice from behind and above her. It sounded nervous.

"Ms. Grant. James Olsen said you want to talk. Let's talk."

Cat turned around, looked up and saw the girl in a blue top, red skirt and red boots. She let out a deep breath. Her gamble had paid off.

"It's you," she said, then she deliberately corrected herself. "Oh no, I'm sorry, I meant to say" and here she put a touch of false awe into her voice "Who are you?"

"According to you, I'm Supergirl."

"Trademark pending" was Cat's smirking comeback.

The false awe and the smirk cleared Kara's mind. Ms. Grant was playing the bossy bitch. CatCo employees, including Kara herself, had to kowtow whenever Ms. Grant did that, but Kara instantly realized that Supergirl couldn't act like a CatCo employee. She remembered the voice and authority her mother used when passing sentence on behalf of the Kryptonian High Council.

"Look, Ms. Grant; James Olsen said you wanted an interview. From the way he asked me to meet you, I guess you think you can use me to help build your business. And he told me that I might get some help from having a large news organization that might allow my point of view into its stories. And I've got no objection to either of those goals. But before we get to the interview, we need to get something straight."

Cat Grant noticed the change in the girl's voice. "Oh, I'm getting an interview?"

"You are. Even though James told me that if he didn't get you this interview, you'd fire him. Is that right?"

Cat made a quick decision to tell the truth. "Yes."

"I don't like bullies or manipulators Ms. Grant. You didn't know that when you threatened James, so I won't hold it against you this time. I also know you have a business to run and you need to be sure that your people are working all out for you, so I'm not going to do anything about situations I'm not involved in, even if you feel you need to bully or threaten your staff. However, if you threaten your employees in any way to try to motivate me to do something, what you are really doing is trying to manipulate me, and I won't be manipulated – not by you, not by anyone. Don't manipulate me, and CatCo gets first access to anything I can give a news organization, but try to manipulate me again and I not only don't cooperate with any CatCo media person in future, I'll find someone else I can trust to partner with. Can you work with that?"

Cat was taken aback. The girl looked like she was in her late teens or early 20's but there was some backbone in her voice. She nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving the girl above her head.

The girl spoke again, almost to herself: "You know . . . this is the first time in my life that I've spoken to a journalist, and I'm the heart of a story that could appear in every newspaper in the country. Also, two weeks ago, I had no plans ever to go public with the full range of my abilities, and I'm still working out why I did it. But the most important thing here is that I want to make sure you understand where I'm coming from and why, OK?

"I see."

"I'll start by telling you my story."

"All right, but do you mind if I record what you say?"

"Go ahead."

Cat turned on her cell phone and said "Supergirl interview" then pointed the phone towards Supergirl. The girl in blue and red took a deep breath and began:

"You've probably guessed part of my story. I was sent to earth by my parents to escape a dying planet, yes Krypton. But my spaceship was launched a few minutes after the one that carried Superman and that delay nearly killed me. His ship outraced the explosion's shock wave and came directly to Earth, my ship got caught in it and was knocked off course, and I was placed into in what you might call suspended animation. That seems to have lasted about 25 years. Then somehow, something put my ship back on course and woke me up, and when I arrived here, I wasn't significantly older than I was when I left."

"How do you know that you were delayed for 25 years and in suspended animation?"

"When I arrived here I appeared to be about thirteen years old. That was the age I was when I left Krypton, and I don't remember the flight lasting long. Superman and I put our heads together one time and, from certain things I know, we figured out that we must have left Krypton very closely together. Yet he grew up from babyhood on earth and started being Superman five years before I arrive here. That argues that there was about a twenty-five-year flight delay for me."

"You've met Superman then?"

"Of course. With his abilities, he spotted my ship as soon as it hit the atmosphere and he recognized that it was Kryptonian. So he turned up as soon as the ship touched down. He arranged for me to be looked after by the couple that ultimately adopted me. They're great by the way. And for the last ten years, I've learned how to live here and built a life for myself."

"And can I assume all of your powers are the same as the man of steel's, the flying, the super strength, the freezy breath thing?"

"I'm still working on that last one."

Cat decided to try a little prod on her interviewee:

"Ohh, so you're not up to his level yet?" she grinned.

She could feel the quick blast of heat vision that just missed her as Supergirl rose to her bait. The girl wasn't as mature as she was trying to project.

"I wouldn't say that."

"So why are we only hearing from you now then?" Cat jibed.

Supergirl flew up and then landed, looking away from Cat.

"I don't understand the question," she said.

"Why has it taken you so long to start giving back? Where were you during the earthquake two years ago, or the wildfires last September that killed eight people?"

Supergirl gritted her teeth at the disdain in Cat's voice.

"This is not a job I take lightly, Ms. Grant. I had to be ready. But you see, from the very first day I landed here, I was told by Superman and my parents that I had to hide my powers and fit in because people are afraid of what they can't understand or control. That was very powerful negative reinforcement. And so I was a good little girl and hid my powers until two weeks ago."

"What changed two weeks ago?" The disdain was still there in Cat's voice, but it was less. Kara thought Ms. Grant understood.

"I was walking along the street when I saw that plane coming down. And I . . . I realized that I was the only person who could do something to stop a horrible disaster. That plane wasn't coming down normally; it had lost two of its engines. So there was no choice, I couldn't just stand by and let that plane crash."

"Why not? You'd been doing it for years."

Kara thought hard. She couldn't mention Alex, so . . .

"Do you know any French?"

Cat blinked at the seemingly irrelevant question.

"No, I don't. Why?"

"Because they have a phrase that explains what I felt that night. It's called noblesse oblige."

"You mean the noble's obligation to keep his serfs at subsistence level? How perfectly feudal." The disdain was back full strength in Cat's voice, but this time, Supergirl didn't let it ruffle her.

"Not exactly. I'm told that the word noblesse doesn't always refer to a noble like a Lord or Lady, but sometimes it can refer to a personal quality like strength or wisdom or ability to do something. And the word oblige refers to an obligation that the person with that quality has. They have to use their strengths to help others. And that night, the compulsion to use my strengths to help those people on the plane and in the streets who would have died if I did nothing overcame the reluctance to use my powers that had been my previous default mode.

"And afterward you kept on trying to help? You've made an outfit like Superman's, are you going to follow in his footsteps?"

"Every day people get into trouble. I'll help any way I can, but I might not do it with Superman's style."

"Any plans to start a family?" Cat's voice was light, amused.

Supergirl whirled: "Nobody ever asks my cousin these questions."

"Superman is your cousin?"

"This interview is over." 


	2. Opinions Versus Facts

The Second Interview

Kara turned away from Winn to go to her desk and saw something out of the corner of her eye that made her stop dead.

"What is Lesley Willis doing in Cat's office?"

"Um, . . . you have super hearing." Win whispered.

Kara opened up her hearing and focused it in the office to her left. Her boss' voice was clear as a bell.

"I caught your broadcast yesterday. I warned you about going after Supergirl."

As Kara sat down at her desk, Lesley replied, "You're always warning me about something, that's our dynamic. You tell me I'm crossing a line, a week later, there's a new line to cross."

Cat's voice was deliberately patient. "I discovered you in that shoebox of a radio station. I mentored you to the best of my ability, and for the most part, I am proud of that. But going after a young girl, insulting her body, how she dresses, her sexuality . . . "

"Lack of sexuality." Lesley corrected. "Last time I checked, as long as I delivered certain ratings, you didn't care what sacred cows I went after. So why is she different?" She put down her drink on the glass table.

Cat moved decisively around her desk and put Leslie's drink on a coaster. "I named her, Lesley. I am doing everything I can to cultivate a relationship between Supergirl and CatCo. If I could legally adopt her, I would."

"I read your article Cat." Lesley stood up. "You're just as hard on her as I am."

There was no give in Cat's voice as she said: "Supergirl is off the table. Effective immediately."

"Why . . . you're dictating my content now?"

Kara left her desk and quickly walked to the elevator corridor where the washrooms and the stairwells were located. But she focused her hearing so she could monitor the conversation even while she moved.

"Yes," said Cat. "Supergirl is changing the conversation of National City. People don't want your brand of negativity anymore Lesley. They want optimism, hope, positivity."

"You're a hypocrite, Cat."

"And you're finished, Lesley."

Lesley Willis turned around in a fury, but before she could say anything else, a new voice interrupted from the open door of Cat's office balcony.

"Pardon me for interrupting ladies, but I heard my name mentioned as I was flying by. Ms. Grant, I don't need you to fight my battles."

"Didn't your parents ever tell you that listening to other peoples' private conversations isn't polite, Supergirl?"

"They did Ms. Grant. But you were about to fight a battle it's not in your interest to fight, and it's one I don't want you to fight."

"What do you mean?"

"I can fight it myself without your assistance."

"How are you going to do that? Beat me to a pulp?" Lesley Willis' voice was a sneer.

"No, Ms. Willis. I don't need to do that. What's at issue here is not personalities but opinions versus facts. You're an opinion columnist. Your business is broadcasting provocative opinions, right? I don't mind what you say about my appearance, my sexuality or lack thereof, my presentation style or anything else that is irrelevant to the real issue here which is the facts. And one big fact in this situation is that many people have a huge and legitimate concern about a new Kryptonian in town. Is this Kryptonian going to be a good guy like Superman, or a bad guy like, let's say Reactron? If I keep on helping people, as people get to know me, they'll learn that I'm not another Reactron. And once people learn that opinions such as those you broadcast will be totally irrelevant."

"You seem pretty sure of yourself, kid." Lesley Willis voice was still sneering.

"Ms. Willis, just review the press coverage of Superman for his first five years in Metropolis. What I've described is exactly what happened to him. It was by helping people and never losing control that he gained the respect he enjoys today. It will be easier for me. He's already blazed the trail: all I have to do is follow it."

Lesley Willis raised her eyebrows, but before she could reply, the girl in blue was addressing Cat Grant.

"Ms. Grant, I don't want you to put any restrictions on your staff, except of course that I'd like to see factual accuracy in CatCo's coverage of me. I particularly don't want you to muzzle your opinion columnists. I want them to have full freedom to say what they want. And that includes Ms. Willis.

"Why on earth do you want that?" Cat asked.

"First, nothing kills a good news organization faster than censorship by its top managers. I think you'd hurt Catco if you tried to do that and I don't want or need Catco to be hurt. Second, newspapers, TV, radio . . . they're a feedback loop. They tell me what people are thinking. I want, no I need, to know the full range of opinions out there and unmuzzled opinion journalists including Ms. Willis, will give me that. But if you really want to throw me a bone, we'll compromise: if I disagree with something strongly enough, I'll write you a letter, and you can publish it. Do we have a deal?"

Visions of what letters from Supergirl would do to circulation figures did not stop Cat thinking through Supergirl's argument for flaws. She didn't find any. She nodded. "Sure, but with one condition."

"What's that?"

I want a 500-word letter from you by the end of the day today summarizing what you just said. Can you do that?"

"Yes. Goodbye, Ms. Willis, I'll be in touch, Ms. Grant."

The balcony was empty, and the two journalists sat silently until Cat Grant let out a slow breath and looked at Lesley Willis.

"Now you know why I want to adopt her. She may be wise as well as strong. Supergirl is on the table for opinion columnists. But calling me a hypocrite to my face is just not on.

"I have two years left on my contract. And you are too proud and too cheap to buy me out. And I can always let Supergirl know that you fired me."

"That's true. However, I'm not firing you; I'm transferring you to traffic chopper for the next two weeks. Joe Gordon broke his arm yesterday. You'll be National City's highest paid traffic reporter."

"You do this, and you will regret it." Lesley threatened.

"Rush hour starts at four thirty. If you're not in the Cat-copter when it goes up, you'll be hearing from my lawyer. Oh, and you'd better take some Dramamine. Looks like it's going to be a bumpy ride.


End file.
